Exaltation for a Dream’s Ending
by Kitish Veldgryr
Summary: The sound of an ancient clock ticking time away. A world familiar, yet in a haze. Will Duo discover the secret of his recurring nightmare or will he be lost to the powers that seek to overcome him and his closest allies, Heero Yui and Chang Wufei?


Title: Exultation of a Dream's Ending  
  
Pairings: 1x2x5 eventually  
  
Disclaimer: The Gundam boys be not mine, I'm just takin' 'em out for a spin. I get nothin' out of this but reviews I spose.  
  
Warning: Shounen ai/yaoi... maybe lime... don't know yet.  
  
Note: This will be AU... Any original characters are mine and so is the story... so if ya wanna use 'em just ask. K-ness!

Part I

Exaltation for a Dream's Ending  
  
_"Tick! Tock!" The sound of a ticking clock resounds oppressively. A young man standing alone in a shadowed, dome shaped room, robed in a floor length silver-white cloak, long brown hair swaying and violet eyes gazing about in wonder and fear, the boy turns toward the center of the mysterious room. The suffocating sound of time slipping away came from an elegant grandfather clock standing under a single column of dim, watery light. As the youth approached, the sound became louder and more brutal upon his delicate ears. The regal clock was emblazoned with a celestial motif, on the face as well as along the sides. The pendulum, a sun with a crescent moon set on top of it, swung relentlessly in front of a background of silver stars set on a midnight field of blue. As the violet-eyed boy came nearer, the clock seemed to grow and expand, reaching twice its original size by the time the boy stood before it. As it grew, the boy unexpectedly found himself before the face; stylized hands ruthlessly ticking their course about it, inexorably drawing nearer the midnight hour. The dome of the room suddenly disappeared and became the starry field of the pendulum's niche, etched silver stars faintly glowing. The floor fell away as the niche warped itself into a night sky surrounding him, to save himself from falling through the star flecked void about him, the boy leapt for the minute hand. The clock struck twelve and he lost his tenuous gripe, slipping and falling into the void. The stars whirled and blurred about him and he found himself landing on the balcony of an old bell tower, with an hoary clock chiming midnight. The booming bells sounded themselves out into the clear night air. The youth slowly stood; looking skyward he saw a hazy field of stars that seemed as disturbingly familiar as the tower, apprehensively he advanced upon the low wall of the balcony, that even in the eerie light looked more and more recognizable. He gazed about in uneasy amazement at the obscure village below him.  
  
"H-h-home, I...I-I'm home..." His faltering whisper wavered in his shock. Violet eyes mist in wonderment. The purple orbs strike upon an image facing him and light up with purest joy. He leaped from the balcony and gently lighted upon the earth beneath as if it were hardly any distance to leap at all. He pelted forward, headlong toward the image. A flickering pair of shadows, an ethereal male figure with fluttering hair, strands flying into his face and an unusually large moor cat. The male felt of rivers and wind and the cat's wild aura shimmered, the feline becoming yet another young man, short wild hair perpetually storm tossed. The inky figures stood, sessile and immutable as the bounding youth came upon then swiftly.  
  
"You're here! You're alive! I can't believe it! Alive!" The boy shouted in exultation, pleasure and heart felt relief reverberating in his melodious voice. As he neared them, the forms remained still, murky and shadowed; he flung himself forward to catch them around the chest in a lunging hug.  
  
"I've missed you so much! Thank the gods! It was all just a dream, just a terrible, terrible dream! You're alive!" As he collides with them, the forms shatter into a thousand obsidian shards. An anguished cry rippled the air, as the boy fell to his knees, head hung low in sorrow. The world about him shifted in flux and turned upside down, twisting in upon itself. An image formed in the distorted obsidian pool around him, an aged priest of the Goddess. A single tear slides down the boy's cheek falling into the pool, it undulates and the old priest in worn robes captures a single perfect teardrop shaped diamond as it falls from above him. He wearily tosses it in a beautiful crystal vase brimming with other diamonds as resplendent as the last, each in its own dazzling grief stricken glory.  
  
His head bowed, he whisperingly sends a practiced pray to the Night Lady,_ "Protecteth that which is most precious, lost to thy blessed stars. May thine fires burneth forever on and guideth thou woeful bearers of the Sacred Tratiga, blessed be they who walketh thy Lunar Paths. May thy Way be open to those who needeth it most. Lunasta Estraillo Solesti." _His pain filled voice faded into the darkness of the pool, the single most stable image about the boy in the whirlwind of light and dark erupting around him. The whirling faded as the shadows grew and shifted into a field of luminous stars. The ever present bell chimes dwindled as the stars blinked out one by one. _The dream dies with the sound of the bell.  
  
With a start a youth with a long chestnut braid jumped into a sitting position on his bed. The bed sheets in tangles round him, the light of the moon shimmering and dancing about the room with the sheer curtains fluttering in the cool night's frenzied breeze. The boy heaves and bellows for air as his breath hitched in his chest. Duo Maxwell swung his legs from the bed and threw on a pair of black jeans, leaving his chest bare to the breeze. Bowing his head, he vigorously rubs his face and bangs with his hands in frustration.  
  
"Damn 'tall to bloody Hell!" His hoarse, fierce whisper was an assault on the silence in his small, neat bedroom. The digital clock on the simple desk luridly blazed 12:02 am. His back toward the window, he glanced over his shoulder out of its open panes, the curtains playing a savage dance in the moonlight. A defeated sigh escaped his lips and violet eyes turned wearily toward the door.  
  
"I need to get a glass... of water...yeah... thas what I need. Harumph. Water, the ultimate pick-me-up." He snorts at his murmured joke. "A pick-me-up is definitely what I need. Those stupid aggravating dreams. Wha tha fuck are up with those blasted things?" His fierce query stood unanswered so he carefully dragged himself up. Going slowly toward the door, Duo moved with the air of a man facing his execution and seeing it as both a terror and a relief. When he reached the door he pulled himself together, stealthily sneaking out the carefully opened door, down the short hall and descending the stairs. He moved cautiously past the rooms on the landing and made his way to the kitchen. Wearily he pulled a glass from the cabinet and turned on the tap, filling the glass he then moved to the counter. With the glass cradled in his exhausted hands, he leaned against the bar. With a sigh, "What in hell is happ'nin to me...? Why won't that thrice damned dream go away? Gods please make it go away..."  
  
With a start he swung his head up and turned to see Chang Wufei, gracefully stepping down into the dark kitchen. Wufei glanced at Duo, a question in his kohl eyes. The question that Duo least and most wanted to hear, would he ask it or will he let well enough alone?  
  
"Maxwell? Is it not a little... late for you to about?" An elegant black brow rose slightly, as the Chinese Dragon questioned the tired pilot.  
  
"Whah... Oh yeah... I just needed a glass of water..." Duo held up the glass in testimony of his statement. "Just thirsty... ya know"  
  
The brow rose again, "Ah. Maxwell, are you... alright? You appear somewhat weathered.""I'm fine... really. Just didn't get much sleep... it's no big.""Are you certain you're fine, Maxwell?""Yeah, Chang-man, I'm fine... Just tired 'sall...""Maxwell...Maxwell... You in there?" Wufei moved next to the spacing out teen.

"Maxwell...."

"....Uagh... Whah... sorry Fei... just zoning... I'm alright...""Maxwell, have you been... well, sleeping... at all, lately? Frankly, you look like hell. Have you had _any_ sleep this week?" The Asian teen demanded as he watched Duo with concern."Sorry, Fei-Chang.... I guess I aint been sleepin' much lately..." Duo's exhausted whisper hit the skilled youth as a limping breath of air. Moonlight streamed through the kitchen window, as Wufei turned to Duo and made a decision."Let's go.""Whah? Go? Go, where? Huh?""My room.""Why? ... What?"With an exasperated sniff, "Why? It's simple, you are exhausted and you need sleep. I have an herbal tea that may help you sleep a full night, longer if I can help it. Besides, if you talk about it, whatever is preventing your slumber, perhaps it could then help you rest easier.""Oh... yeah.. kay Fei..."Wufei led the compliant, teenager out of the kitchen and on into his downstairs room. The room was located in the back of the safe house, near the backdoor and just beside the kitchen; Chang Wufei often took on the kitchen duties so wished the room nearest it, he also demanded to be near the back exit. That exit lead out to a cleared area of hard packed earth where he did his early morning exercises. The pair entered his candle-lit abode, smelling of incense and spice. Sitting on the low bed, lotus style was Heero Yui with a pile of papers beside him. He curiously glanced up and tilted his head in question. Chang Wufei stood with Duo in front of him, hands firmly holding the drained boy's shoulders. He gave Duo a light shove toward the comfortable looking bed. Heero stood, gathering the papers as Duo stumbled and settled to the left of the place he had just vacated, Wufei sat down on Duo's other side.

"Yui, please go get some of that soothing tea we heated up earlier for Quatre's headache, this one has been having trouble sleeping." Wufei proceeded to gently massage Duo's bare shoulders and back to loosen long knotted muscles. "Maxwell, tell us why can't you sleep? Whatever it is spill it, else you will not gain rest any time soon."

"...You haven't been able to sleep, Duo? Is there something wrong, something bothering you?" Heero carried the three steaming cups of tea over, setting them down on the stand by the bed. "Quatre came in here half an hour ago unable to sleep and begged for some tea, is there some cold going around?""Nah... Nothin's wrong... just can't sleep... Hmm... Fei-Chang... that feels so good..." Wufei pulled his hands away from Duo's back and takes a cup of tea passing it to him. Heero handed a steaming cup to Wufei, and quickly took a cup for himself, sitting down to the right of Duo."Maxwell, don't start on that 'I'm fine, really' stuff again... We know something is wrong, has been wrong for some time. This is not the first night, you've wondered out of your room in the middle of the night."

"Hey! What's wrong with being awake at odd hours, _you're_ up at midnight. So why are you up, huh? Something wrong with you two? I mean, this isn't even Heero's room."

"We were discussing the new mission parameters regarding the school. It took far longer than expected to locate and access the specific records we were looking for." Heero settled back against the wall and began looking out the window next to the foot of the bed; the wind had picked up causing the old oak tree just outside to shudder under its glowing silver burden, fleeting clouds glanced in front of the shining moon. Heero's eyes momentarily took on a feral gleam.

The look quickly fading as he continued with a sigh, "That would be why I am in Chang's room, his system has already been linked to the appropriate sites because it was he who scouted this location." With that Heero quirked his eyebrow and looked pointedly at Duo, his momentary daydream already forgotten.  
  
"If you'll recall, we will need to have at least two operatives in that school but that may not be a workable plan with the situation in town."  
  
"Oh.. yeah... right."  
  
"Thus _we_ have an excuse for keeping late hours, you however do not. Now as I've said before... spill. And Maxwell, that is an order, understand."  
  
"I.. I it isn't that big of a deal.. just, I don't know...." Duo sipped at his tea and hung his head. "I just don't know..."  
  
"Are you having nightmares? Something of that nature or is it something else?" Wufei watched Duo carefully looking for some clue about his sleeping problems. Heero also watched Duo with the intensity he offered to all the enigmas he encountered.  
  
"Well, it's not nightmares, it's _a_ nightmare or dream or whatever, single only one. I just keep having the damned thing, over and over. It won't go away! And I don't have a fucking clue as to what the thrice damned thing means, I... I just don't get it!" Duo's frustrated voice cracked with his exasperation.  
  
In a hushed faltering voice Duo began telling the pair about the clock and how the dream progressed. He would sip his tea as Wufei continued to light rub his back to soothe the tension away, the relaxed pose made it easier for him to find the right words to explain how the dream felt and not just what he could see in it. In the comfortable half-light of the room Duo shared his tale, every detail he could dredge up from the recesses of his mind. The every site, sound and emotion he could recall, every tangible feeling and whispering doubt he could draw out of his memory. From the anguish of losing the shadow figures that had given him such joy when first spying them. The feelings were what he could remember most clearly along with the words he spoke, but not what he, the dream person was thinking. He was certain that the boy in the dream was himself, but it seemed as if it were some unknown version, him yet not truly him. Duo neither understood nor knew why the dreams began to plague his nights; all he knew was that it was driving him mad with exhaustion and the sheer repetition and incomprehensible allusions of it all.  
  
Wufei spoke first, bewildered and concerned, "....Maxwell... that.. I.. is there some way we can help?."

"Yes, how can we assist you? Chang you have some experience with some of the wilder rituals of our people, have you come across anything about the meanings or portents of dreams? I know that I have come across certain research results that implied that dreams have more meaning to them than most generally give them credit for but I do not know what elements in a dream could mean."

"Well, yes I was exposed to some information regarding the translations of dreams, not just the traditions of the Clan but also some of the more main stream logic that has been applied to them. I was a scholar you know."

"So what do you think such a recurring dream with, such, well strange themes could mean?"  
  
"It could be a number of things really, from anything as mundane as stress to a resurgence of memories from a past trauma, past life or any of a thousand other possibilities, logical or fanciful each as equally likely. It has been a long time since I have study the ways of dreams and their patterns. I will look in on it, with Yui's help..." Wufei nodded his head in Heero's direction and received an affirmative nod in response. "Maxwell, I'm sorry I can't offer more in that direction, yet... But we can help you work through this until we can do more. As well as until _we_ can help figure out what has been happening to you."  
  
"I... thanks Fei-man, Ro-man, I needed to... to get that off my chest..it reall..y means a lo..." Duo yawned widely and slumped on the bed. "I feel show ti-ired... an shleepy... ..."  
  
Wufei softy chuckled and eased the sleeping teen down on the bed more comfortably. Heero moved out of the way of Duo's feet, grabbing all of their cups placing them on the tray that was sitting on the stand between the bed and the window. Wufei backed away picking up the cup laden tray, Heero pulled the blankets up and covered the sleeping youth. Wufei and Heero walked out to the kitchen to put the cups aside so that they could be washed latter by Quatre who would have dish duty that day.  
  
Wufei turned and whispered to Heero, "What do you think about this dream self of Maxwell's, he truly identifies with the guy as well as those two mysterious figures...I ... I don't know, but it feels almost familiar... It's weird and a little... the best word that I can come up with is well, creepy to be brutally honest." Heero looked thoughtful until they returned to the room, then he paused and answered.  
  
"I...know what you mean..." Heero looked over at the sleeping figure, his brow creased with worry and confusion. "I feel as if I may have dreamed something similar, yet can't remember... It's as if... maybe I was in _his_ dream... but unable to do anything but watch..." He sighed in frustration and turned back to Wufei confusion in his cobalt eyes.

Wufei looked at Heero and held up one of the pallets that he had been pulling out, the question plain on his face. 'Stay here and be there for him as soon as he awakens or what?' Heero stepped up to the closet and pulled out the extra blankets and pillows, enough for two. Wufei placed the pallets on the floor next to the bed, together they took up almost as much of the cleared out space as his work mat he puts there when it rains outside. Heero tossed a blanket and pillow to Wufei, taking a set for himself and established himself on his pallet, their movements seemingly choreographed.

He blew out the candles on the stand and Wufei turned out the table lamp, turning to settle down on his own pallet he said, "Let's talk about this later, when we are awake and refreshed, ne?"  
  
"Ah..." Heero Yui's grunted agreement was met with the silence of a night already fading into morning.


End file.
